Roderick Buchanan was born in 1965 and studied at the School of Art of Glasgow, a true hotbed of artists. He has been known in France for around twelve years, mainly for his trademark video works related to sports. This is an oversimplification! While Buchanan certainly is a football fan, as well as an excellent player, the scope of his work reaches well beyond the world of sport, to question issues of identity, cultural exchange, community and territory.

Buchanan, who is opposed to any form of dogmatism, grounds his works in concrete situations, hic et nunc, and works with what is, rather than with what he would like there to be. While one can sense the influence of cultural studies to a certain degree (as much in its post-colonialism as in the questioning of gender), his work is profoundly human and committed; humour and emotion are at the forefront.

The exhibition in Rennes offers the public the widest possible access to Buchanan’s work. In a sort of mini retrospective, la criée will present a selection of videos by the artist. A precisely documented survey of a project for public space, Canon into the Stadium, will also be shown. This is a new type of display for Buchanan, that is at once an account of the complexities but also of the energy generated by this project. The first part of a new photographic work on pastry, Scottish Cakes, will be presented in Rennes. A French response will be shown later in Scotland to complete this cake match ! The exhibition will be rounded off by a very peculiar self-portrait, also a new work.

While Roderick Buchanan finds constant sources of inspiration in reality and popular culture, he never loses sight of the pictorial foundations of art, his secular heritage. Thus, at the Musée des Beaux-arts in Rennes, he will present a video History Painting which, as the title indicates, refers directly to the great pictorial tradition.

Jean-Marc Huitorel, curator.

Further information about the show From a city of one million :

Guided tour of the exhibition with Roderick Buchanan and Jean-marc Huitorel at la criée

Friday, 19th October at 5 p.m.

Conference by Roderick Buchanan and Jean-Marc Huitorel Thursday 25th October at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Rennes, School lecture hall, 34 rue Hoche, Thursday, 25th October at 5 p.m.

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